Treatment chamber for a continuously moving web

ABSTRACT

An improved treatment chamber for treating a continuously moving web in which the treatment chamber is constructed in a manner such that it can be divided into sub-chambers or used as a large chamber by simply opening or closing a lock between the subchambers whereby different types of web treatment may be efficiently carried out in a single treatment apparatus.

United States Patent [191 Kutz [ TREATMENT CHAMBER FOR A CONTINUOUSLYMOVING WEB [75] Inventor: Johannes KutztSt. Tonis. near Krefeld, Germany['73] Assignee: Eduard Kusters, Krefeld-Forstwald,

Germany [22] Filed: July 2, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 375,743

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 6, 1972 Germany 2233308 [52]U.S. Cl. 68/5 E; 34/242 68/5 E [51] Int. Cl. F26b 25/00 [58] Field ofSearch 68/5 E, 5 D, DIG. 5;

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS Mather 68/5 E Aug. 12, 1975761,107 5/1904 Rovira 68/5 E 1,423,242 7/1922 Minton... 34/242 2,415,3792 1947 Vieira 68/5 E 2,443,443 6/1948 Chavannes 34/242 X 2,890,8786/1959 Steinherz et 211.. 34/24 3,158,507 11/1964 Alexander 68/5 EPrimary Examiner-Billy J. Wilhite Attorney, Agent, or Firm.Kenyon &Kenyon Reilly Carr & Chapin 57 ABSTRACT An improved treatment chamberfor treating a continuously moving web in which the treatment chamber isconstructed in a manner such that it can be divided into sub-chambers orused as a large chamber by simply opening or closing a lock between thesubchambers whereby different types of web treatment may be efficientlycarried out in a single treatment apparatus.

8 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure TREATMENT CHAMBER FOR A CONTINUOUSLY MOVINGWEB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to treatmentchambers for moving webs and the like in general and more particularlyto an improved treatment chamber of this type which may be subdividedinto sub-chambers.

In the textile industry, webs of material which have had dyes appliedthereto are often treated in a treatment chamber containing steam inorder to set the dyes which have previously been applied ln suchtreatment chambers the web will follow a winding path within a steamatmosphere. The length of web within the chamber at any given time iscalled the web content of the chamber. For a given rate of speed throughthe chamber an increment of web will take longer to pass through a largetreatment chamber (one with a large web content) than through a smalltreatment chamber.

Webs are treated differently depending on the type of material beingtreated and the type of dye which has been applied to it. Some dyesand/or materials require shorter times in the steam atmosphere than doothers. For example, webs made of a mixture of acryl and cotton arenormally processed for a steam time of 8 to minutes. On the otherhand,indantherene dyed webs may only be processed for a steaming time ofapproximately 1 minute without the dye material running. Thus, if asmall treatment chamber is used for treating acryl and cotton materialsthe materials must be passed through the steamer at a very slow rate ofspeed resulting in uneconomical operation since only a small quantity ofmaterial can be treated in a given period of time. On the other hand, ifa large treatment chamber is used, which can handle this type ofmaterial, problems occur when trying to treat material which can onlytolerate short treatment periods. In such a large treatment chamber orsteamer, when such materials are being treated, the rate of speedatwhich the material runs through must be increased to an extremely highspeed. This creates problems both in operating the treatment chamber andmore importantly in the operation of associated equipment such aswashing units through which the web is passed after the steam treatment.These must have their capacities increased in the range of 3 to 10 timesin order to achieve proper washing at such a high speed.

In view of these problems very often different size treatment chamberswere required in prior art installations in order to economically andefficiently handle different types of materials and different dyes.Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for an improved treatmentchamber which is capable of treating various types of materials whichhave been dyed with various types of dyes and thus require differentlengths of treatments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The improved treatment chamber of the presentinvention has the capability of treating a continuously moving web fordifferent periods of time without excesssive variations in the rate ofspeed at which the web is moved through the treatment chamber. Toaccomplish this the treatment chamber is divided into two or moresub'chambers with intermediate walls between the sub-chambers. Each ofthe walls contains a controllable steam lock which can be either openedto permit steam to pass between the chambers or closed to isolate thechambers from each other. Thus if a long treatment period is requiredthe lock may be opened and all the sub-chambers filled with steam toobtain the required treatment. On the other hand, if a short treatmentperiod is required, one or more of the sub-chambers may be isolated andsteam only supplied to the remaining sub-chambers.

In the illustrated embodiment the treatment chamber is divided into twosub-chambers with a lock between them. In addition, the second of thesub-chambers is equipped with washing or rinsing apparatus so that whenoperating using only one of the chambers for steam treatment the othermay be used for washing or rinsing. This washing and rinsing equipmentis designed so that it may be inactivated when it is desired to use bothsub-chambers for steam treatment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The single FIGURE is a verticallongitudinal section through a ribbon steamer or treatment chamberconstructed according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PERFERRED EMBODIMENT Y 9 in conventionalfashion. Tensioning rollers 9 are supported for rotation on an arm andmaintain the web in a tensioned condition (avoiding folds in thematerial) as it passes through the chamber. At the opposite end of thechamber, the web 4 passes through an exit lock 10 having similar suctionmeans to prevent steam from leaking out of the chamber. In'theillustrated embodiment the web is then passed through rinsing equipment11 and a squeezing apparatus 12. As noted above, prior to entering thetreatment chamber the web 4 will have been dyed, with the purpose of thetreatment chamber 1 being to properly set the dye. After exit throughthe exit lock 10 treatments other than those illustrated by the rinsingapparatus 11 and squeezing apparatus 12 may also be performed.

The treatment chamber 1 is divided into two separate sub-chambersdesignated by the brackets 17 and 18 using a well 15 containing waterlock 16. As illustrated, the water lock 16 is filled with water whicheffectively acts as a barrier between the atmosphere in the subchamber17 and that in the sub-chamber 18. Thus the sub-chamber 17 may be filledwith steam while the sub chamber 18 contains only air. Similarly thesubchamber 18 may be filled with steam with the subchamber 17 containingair. The use of a lock such as the water lock 16 permits ease ofconversion from an apparatus having two chambers to a single chamberapparatus. By simply draining the water from the water lock 16 andfilling both sub-chambers with steam continuous steam treatment throughthe total length of the chamber 1 may be maintained. Other types oflocks may also be used. For example, a labyrith structure with suction,similar to that described in connection with the entrance and exitlocks, and which extents transversely on both sides of the web may beused. A sealing roller pair between which the web passes, may equallywell be used. With thesuction type lock, it is only necessary to turnoff the suction in order to permit the atmospheres in the twosub-chambers to communicate with each other and to establish alengthened treatment chamber. With the sealing rollers a similar effectmay be obtained by separating the rollers from one another. It is alsopossible to install a wall containing a lock which is removable. In thatcase, when a large chamber is required, the wall is removed, and, when asmaller chamber is required, the wall inserted. The latter arrangementhas the disadvantage that in order to remove and replace the wall it isnecessary to break the continuity of the web. With the types of lockdescribed above which may be selectively opened and closed, a continuousweb through the treatment chamber may always be maintained. Whenchanging from one material to another it is only necessary that thestarting end of the new roll be sewn on to the end of the old roll sothat it will be drawn continuously through the chamber.

Steam for the chamber is provided by using a plurality of heating coils14 to heat water 13 which is placed in the bottom of the chamber.Separate heating coils 14 and 14' are provided to heat the water 13 and13 in chambers 17 and 18 respectively. The heating coils are operableseparately and means are provided to supply to and drain water from theseparate sub-chambers. Thus, when operating with steam in only onesubchamber, the water may be drained out of the other and its associatedheating coils turned off. As noted above, steam may be generated ineither the chamber 17 or the chamber 18 It is preferred, however, thatthe chamber 17 be used for steaming in which case, when the chamber 18is not also required for ste'aming, it may be used for washing orrinsing. Thus, there is shown installed within the subchamber 18 washingand rinsing apparatus 19. When only the chamber 17 is being used forsteaming the trough of apparatus 19 may be filled with water for rinsingthe material after steam treatment. If the full length of the treatmentchamber 1 is required for steaming the rinsing water may be drained andthe washing or rinsing apparatus 19 deactivated when the lock is opened.

Although only two sub-chambers have been shown it will be recognizedthat further divisions of a large chamber such as chamber 1 arepossible. For example a three sub-chamber apparatus is possible in whichthe first chamber is adapted for steaming the second for rinsing andoxidation and the third for washing. Of course as in the illustratedembodiment the second and third chambers will also be usable forsteaming when required. If the treatment in two different atmospheres isrequired (e.g. steam and some other gas,) then the second sub-chambermay be filled with a different treatment atmosphere with the first oneprovided with steam as described above. The types of locks describedabove will provide excellent isolation of the two different atmospheres.f

Thus an improved treatment chamber for steam treating continuouslymoving webs which has a large degree of flexibility permitting treatmentof various types of material in an economical manner has been shown.Althoug a specific embodiment has been illustrated and described, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modificationsmay be made without departing .from the spirit of the invention which isintended to be limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A treatment chamber for treating a continuously moving web of textilematerial comprising:

a. an elongated treatment chamber having means for directing the movingtextile web in a winding path therethrough;

b. means iii-cluding at least one wall and a lock through which the webpasses for separating said elongatedchamber into a plurality of at leastto sub-chambers, said lock being operable to be opened, to allow freepassage of the atmosphere from one chamber to the other and closed toseal one chamber from the other; and i c. means to individually andselectively. provide a treatment atmosphere to each of the subchambers.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said means to provide atreatment atmosphere comprises means to individually supply steam toeach of said subchambers.

3. The invention to claim 1 wherein said chamber is divided into twosub-chambers.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein the means for subdividingsaid chamber into two subchambers comprises ,a permanently positionedwall having installed therein a lock which is operable so as to beopened and closed to respectively permit communication between theatmosphere in one chamber with that in the other and to seal one chamberfrom the other.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein said lock comprises awater lock.

6. The'invention according to claim 1 and further including means in oneof said sub-chammbers selectively operable to provide further treatmentto the web passing therethrough.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein said treatment apparatusfor further treatment comprises washing and rinsing apparatus.

8. The invention according to claim 1 wherein one of said sub-chambersinclude means forproviding a treatment atmosphere which is differentfrom the treatment atmosphere in at least one of the other sub-chambers.

1. A treatment chamber for treating a continuously moving web of textilematerial comprising: a. an elongated treatment chamber having means fordirecting the moving textile web in a winding path therethrough; b.means including at least one wall and a lock through which the webpasses for separating said elongated chamber into a plurality of atleast to sub-chambers, said lock being operable to be opened, to allowfree passage of the atmosphere from one chamber to the other and closedto seal one chamber from the other; and c. means to individually anDselectively provide a treatment atmosphere to each of the subchambers.2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said means to provide atreatment atmosphere comprises means to individually supply steam toeach of said sub-chambers.
 3. The invention to claim 1 wherein saidchamber is divided into two sub-chambers.
 4. The invention according toclaim 3 wherein the means for subdividing said chamber into twosub-chambers comprises a permanently positioned wall having installedtherein a lock which is operable so as to be opened and closed torespectively permit communication between the atmosphere in one chamberwith that in the other and to seal one chamber from the other.
 5. Theinvention according to claim 4 wherein said lock comprises a water lock.6. The invention according to claim 1 and further including means in oneof said sub-chammbers selectively operable to provide further treatmentto the web passing therethrough.
 7. The invention according to claim 6wherein said treatment apparatus for further treatment comprises washingand rinsing apparatus.
 8. The invention according to claim 1 wherein oneof said sub-chambers include means for providing a treatment atmospherewhich is different from the treatment atmosphere in at least one of theother sub-chambers.